NASCAR 25 Review: A Thrilling Return for the Franchise

It's been a long time since NASCAR fans have enjoyed a traditional game that was, at minimum, functional. Motorsport Game's NASCAR: Ignition had many a problem prompting the previous game, NASCAR Heat 5, to release an updated roster. While that was a solid series, iRacing came in and picked up the license for the sport to make a video game. With heavy success in the sim world on PC where you're paying a lot of money, regular fans just wanted to get on the track and do some rubbin'. NASCAR 25 is just that as it features NASCAR's two top series, along with the Craftsman Truck Series and the ARCA Series for the 2025 season.

Rubbin' is Racin' in NASCAR

Everything about the modern sport of NASCAR is represented in NASCAR 25. The four main series across the entire calendar include new tracks that fans of the series have never been able to race at in the past. The amount of detail that iRacing Motorsport Simulations put into the actual physics on the track is fantastic. The game sits right at the perfect simcade, so casual players can pick up a controller and jump in, or more hardcore drivers can take to a wheel and experience the feel of both the cars and the tracks.

No matter the type of track you race on, whether it be a super speedway, short track, tri-oval or a road course, they all feel individually different. There are plenty of assists for players to choose from, but the expert settings aren't punishing, but instead challenging. Players can opt to turn off stage racing, but since it's a part of the sport, it's on by default in the game. There are a ton of drivers and cars to choose from with livery options along with the option to create your own car design.

NASCAR 25 does include a Career Mode along with a Championship, Quick Race and an Online Mode that includes lobbies. The Online Mode has a specific rating system to help gauge your opponents versus how well your skill is. There are a few options here with the ability to do modifications to weekend structures that will also include practice and qualifying.

It's All in the Handling of the Cars

Thanks to iRacing, the dev team was able to take some of what makes the simulation racer's physics special and apply it to NASCAR 25. This equates to what is possibly the best physics engine in a NASCAR game dating back to Dirt to Daytona. That game is twenty years old along with other top games from that era including NASCAR Racing, which still gets updates and has a community today. NASCAR 25 is taking the modern cars and manufacturers with 39 others on the track and simply making the experience work, albeit with some focus in smaller areas.

This equates to what is possibly the best physics engine in a NASCAR game dating back to Dirt to Daytona.

Behind the Fanatec Gran Turismo DD Pro Wheel, cars have never felt like this before. The force feedback is heavy, allowing players to experience just how difficult it is to drive one of these cars for over long distances. Players will need to feel out the throttle coming out of turns. What this game truly does to separate itself is to bring specific car experiences to those different types of tracks. Drafting is important on super speedways like Daytona, so expect bump drafting and pack racing on these types of tracks. Tri-ovals will come down to the handling of the car as each track has different exit strategies based on the asphalt and on the degree of banking and at which angle the track flows after the apex.

Short tracks come down to braking and trajectory as sometimes the high line works better. Do you need to push the car in front of you up the track? Well, get that nose under them and get that position. The cars actually take a good bit to move when contact is made, but this can be adjusted. What tends to happen at higher speeds is that it comes down to the driver to save a loose car. If you are using a force feedback wheel and you go spiraling out of control, let go of the wheel much like these drivers do. Some may not like this force feedback levels, but again these can be adjusted. The handling is ridiculously fun and an excellent representation of the sport.

Players can opt for full setups or a quick setup prior to each race as well. This is where practice comes in to get the right feeling of the car down as it varies from track to track. The gameplay isn't all gas and green flags either. While the AI is respectable on how it passes, interacts and keeps pace, it does tend to slow down in packs leaving corners. This is on Expert as well. It's just enough to keep in the draft and compete. Lappers also do not know how to act and move out of the way. You'll see them box in the leaders and not move. On the other hand, the AI will spin out and lose traction and even this can be adjusted with sliders. There's quite a few sliders in the game. The draft meter is small in the right corner and it literally just lights up if you're in it. Any telemetry is hidden and needs a button to bring it up so you can monitor tires and fuel. There are low indicators that come up, but not much else context until you find this menu.

The game has two spotters to choose from and you'll need to utilize them. Playing in first person with a controller, it doesn't seem like this was meant to be. The sense of scale going between first person and third person almost creates an entirely separate experience. The third-person mode or even hood view works well with controllers, but going from a wheel to a controller isn't recommended. NASCAR 25 is the reason to invest in any type of racing wheel, while the controller seems to be more responsive, but mixing that with the physics and the momentum of the car results in a different experience, as well. The overall racing is about finding grip in the corner, not getting loose, and maintaining momentum and speed. It can be difficult to discern when the back end comes out, so this takes practice.

While the game features green-white checkers, stage racing and yellow/black flags, there are a few bugs here. The game will throw a yellow if one car spins, but it seems to need to come to a complete stop. You can pit under caution, but there's no pullthrough. It just does it and locks the field apparently. When someone wins a Stage, the field is locked as well. The sport doesn't work like that. Pitting involves finding the menu listed above and telling your crew you're coming in. That's cool, but there wasn't a heads up on doing that. You can't just pit when you want to. A lot of this feels like these aspects have been blocked in to eliminate potential AI issues or positioning issues and makes sure the flow of the race is correct. It also seems like the devs wanted to establish a working racing experience and worry about some of these other aspects at a later day, which is respectable.

There is a Lot to be Left on the Table

One thing that's a big positive that sports games leave out are intro videos. NASCAR 25 has an intro video along with other cool videos within the game. The modes were mentioned above, but there isn't a lot going on in terms of game mode options. The Career Mode is setup extremely weird with a linear experience that 's locked behind Sponsorship Goals. If you don't finish above the requested place, you can't continue. Even the entrance race to get your initial ride requires making up twenty positions in six laps.

The idea is to make money and earn Rep in the Career Mode so more sponsors can be obtained and eventually better opportunities. You'll start down in ARCA and progress through the Truck Series and Xfinity Series on your way to the Cup Series. While there's not a lot to do in the game, this one mode will consume your time. You can hire and fire different employees and grow the team. The devs opted not to do any R&D in this mode, but rather go the other direction with having the car components start at 100% and deteriorate through each race. This is thinking outside the box as money will need to be allocated to repairs. The idea behind this is that the sport is supposed to be Stock Car.

The devs opted not to do any R&D in this mode, but rather go the other direction with having the car components start at 100% and deteriorate through each race.

Besides individual races and a Championship Mode that's traditional, the Online Mode experience is rather good. You are in and out of races quick, like within a minute. Voice chat is enabled, but most people are supportive unless you do something wrong on purpose. There has been much more respectable racing on this game than in Gran Turismo, F1 or Forza. That open line of communication may help with that. The ratings system is neat, albeit confusing at times, because it seems the ratings don't present a good representation of how the race ended. The important thing is that it works and it works well.

There's so much that can be added to this series in the future, but if the goal was to release a completely functioning racing game that's modern NASCAR, then there shouldn't be any complaints. The yellow flag aspects and pitting aspects need to be opened up more. While the racing physics are great, the game can only hold on to that feeling for so long until it wears off. The game should have custom liveries that can be shared along with car setups and specific track conditions. Hopefully, with a sequel, there will be more content, but there just isn't much here.

This Game Looks Good, Just Don't Ask About the Sound

This is the best-looking NASCAR game to date, but that isn't a high bar to leap over. NASCAR 25 is on the Unreal Engine 5 and it runs consistently at 60 FPS. Reflections are surprisingly realistic on cars whether it be the night lights or the crowd. The car models look fantastic and detailed. The tracks are detailed with a huge sense of immersion, especially in the third-person view. It would have been nice to see more than 60 FPS especially on a PS5 Pro, but this game is as smooth and solid as you can expect.

Damage on the cars is lackluster for some reason with a lot of scrapes and not any major damage. The damage does affect aerodynamics in racing, and most of the time repairing a car turns it back to normal. Player models do look dated, but there's a mode where you hop out of the car like Ricky Bobby and take off down the track. Strangely, there are no driver models, no driver intros, no victory lane celebrations or interviews. It's just the cars and the track. Lighting looks excellent on the reflections on the cars which is apparently using SSR. The night lights on the tracks also look fantastic.

The sound effects, however, are far from fantastic. Different series cars don't sound different, and while the cars sound solid enough, the sound effects don't. Now, the sound design actually works well. Other cars are picked up separately on a headset and sound also amplifies when near the wall or objects to help with the immersive factor. There are no commentators and a generic PA announcer prior to each race. Hitting a car sounds like someone wiping a windshield with a dry cloth and heavier contact sounds like someone shutting a tool box drawer.

The soundtrack does include the legendary Molly Hatchet - Flirting with Disaster, which was heavily requested, as it was the theme song from the classic NASCAR 98. There's a mix of modern rock including Breaking Benjamin and Serj along with country and hip-hop music. Strangely, you can't view the songs and artists nor can you select what you want to hear. Music is also played over the PA prior to races. Again, not a lot in the overall sound department and frankly not having the option to select what to play is a big miss. Maybe this can get patched in.

Closing Comments:

NASCAR 25 will curb the appetite of those looking for a console experience. The game does the driving and racing perfectly, albeit with some slips outside of the excellent physics engine. This game needs to be experienced with a force feedback or direct drive wheel to truly appreciate the physics engine. Using a controller works well enough and will suit casual players just fine; it's just hard to come back to it from using a wheel. Outside of the racing, there isn't much going on. The Career Mode has interesting design decisions, but there's no point in racing long races if you have to start over due to the Sponsorship Goal. There are four series' here with a ton of drivers to choose from, but the customization aspect is limited. The game looks and runs well, but the sound experience is lacking. The point is you play racing games to drive the cars, which is where NASCAR 25 shines.